Fit too Soon & for too Long

      As I look back over my season, I am reminded of articles I have read about trying to be in peak shape all year.  I believe this was my problem post Raleigh 70.3.  I felt great leading up to the race as my cycling and running was effortless.  I took some risks with nutrition during the race and I did not perform as well as I would have liked.  It left a bad taste in my mouth and a desire to race again.
   
      After a big race, I typically take two weeks completely off then ease back into training.  This time I decided to ride 100 miles 12 days after the race.  My Friday afternoons were free and Friday century rides became a routine.  On several occasions I would back it up with another long ride on Saturday.  I told myself it was only cycling and not the deep fatigue that occurs while running.  I felt good for several weeks, but soon after my cycling power started to declined.  I had difficulty sleeping at night and my recovery was poor.
   
      I wasn't following my training plan and I wasn't listening to my body.  The experts say not to ramp up your training more than 16 weeks out from your race or you'll peak too soon.  I prefer 14 weeks for Ironman training and 12 weeks for Half Ironman training.  Doing too much volume or intensity prior to that leads to physical and mental exhaustion.  It is stressful on the nervous system, endochrine system, as well as the muscular system.  Mark Allen even encourages athletes to carry extra weight early in the year.
   
      When preparing for your second race of the year, I'm learning that the build/peak phase should be further reduced.  I believe you can cut it down to 8 weeks depending on the gap between races.  Trying to continue one's fitness post race will only lead to greater accumulation of fatigue.  You will lose some endurance, but endurance is ease to recoup.  Focus on recovery while mixing in some short sprints (30-60 seconds) and light strength training.  Listen to your body and have fun.

• Listen to your body.  If it keeps telling you the same thing every day, do it.  Train where you are at, not where you want to be. 
• Assess all areas of stress.  Work, relationships, life, and training all contribute to stress on the body.  During periods of rest, Kenyans sit and watch soccer.  Americans, on the other hand run errands and stay active. 
• Follow the plan that you developed in the off season and be leery of adding to it.  We tend to be more rational in the off season as opposed to during the middle of the season when we are fatigued.  If anything, you'll need to reduce workouts, not add them.
• Have fun!  I typically do fun unique training days during the off season, but never during season.  That needs to change.  This past week I ran twice with the goal of going slow and enjoying the scenery.  It felt great.  We don't have to always push ourselves to hold a certain pace.

Three day ride with temps in the 20's

Wow! Talk about "baby it's cold outside". I know this is December, but last weekend felt more like January or February with the arctic blast that blanketed Cincinnati. However, that did not deter Bryan from pushing full force with his first ever mini epic camp. The weekend consisted of three days of group cycling followed by a short run. The camp began on Friday and ended on Sunday. The idea is to take one weekend each month to focus on building one's base for the up coming season.

Friday night:

Weather: Cloudy, Slight chance of rain and most definitely cold. Dropped into the 20's that evening.
Start Time: 4:30 pm (give or take).
Distance: (measured in time not miles) 2.5 hrs of biking followed by a short run
Total people count: 3.5 (since I didn't do the full bike ride)
Course: Mostly flat

I just knew no one would show up Friday night for the ride given the rain. Well I was wrong. We had two people join us. Bryan and I dressed quickly and off we went. Unfortunately my head wasn't in the game and I went back once is started raining.
Day one: weather 1pt Tiffany 0pt
The opposite was true for Bryan he arrived home an hour later with no feeling in his hands
and ready to run. I opted not to do the run and told him to have fun.

Saturday morning:

Weather: Beautiful, but seriously cold. High's in the low 30's and low's in the low 20's. Let's just say it was nippy outside. After a short delay, we went out.
Distance: 3hr ride followed by a short run
Total people count: 1.5 (again I only lasted for a little while)
Course: Hilly (upon request by me)

I was determine to "stay in" and ride the trainer but after much encouragement (more like pleading) I agreed to ride with Bryan. But only on one condition we had to do a lot of hills. The more the better. 20 minutes into our ride Bryan's rear shiftier was not working. I joked and told him it was frozen, turns out I was right. After a slight detour to the bike shop we were back to our ride climbing those hills. Around my 5th decent it was time for me to check out. Tired of putting the strangle hold on my rear brakes (talk about building those forearms)I decided to call it a day.
Day 2: Weather 2pt Tiffany 0pt Bryan of course continued on his merry way and finished with a run.

Sunday morning ride:

Weather: Low twenty's at the start of our bike ride. (Are you kidding me... When will this ever

end.) Yes my friends that is ice.
Distance: Goal 4 hours of biking that turned into 5 to 6 hrs of biking followed by the shortest run in recorded history.
Total people count: 3.5 (Once again I had to cut my ride short but this time it was not of my own volition.)
Course: Hills again. (Unfortunately I missed the best, "Woodland mound" a beast of a hill.)

Where we are going.

Where we've been.



Today was going to be my day. Packed my camera for those ever so important photo opps and dresses very warm. Met up at a friend's house and we headed out. Well it didn't go exactly like that. Before leaving I did a 5 minute tutorial on proper cold weather attire for our "cold weather bike virgins", then we were off.

Want some "chew"

Although it was cold we warmed up pretty quickly, left my bike in the big chain ring and attacked those hills. About 2 hours into my ride I heard a funny noise followed by another funny noise, not good. Bryan gave my bike a quick look over, gave my the thumbs up and off we went. Actually off he went until he heard me shout and looked back to see me capsized. The problem was turning me peddles had become a lot harder. Diagnosis broken spoke and a wheel that was rubbing against my bike frame. Shortly after the bike ambulance came to take my injured bike home. I opted not to run the almost marathon distance to get home and rode with my bike.
Day Three: Tiffany 1pt Bike 0pt

Bryan, Scott and Brad continued on for what turned out to be another 4 hours.

We ended the weekend with three amazing soups cooked by Scott's wife (Sandy). While listening to stories about Scott unsuccessful attempt at killing a fish.

"Llamas" Once we figured out that my bike was down for the count. I had that chance to take pics of the llamas.

Well hello there.

More llamas

Oh you are so cute. Just don't spit on me.

What a great week, Tiffany